Short skirts and low cleavage garner attention at work — but not always the right kind.

Let's face it: Good-looking people get the breaks when it comes to the workplace.

I naively thought that shining in the workplace meant showcasing your skills and flexing your brain — not flaunting a body fit for the runway at New York's Fashion Week or brandishing toned biceps. I was wrong.

Studies have shown that being good looking will get you ahead in your career and improve your income. New research has considered the impact of what you wear at work on your professional status.

In a recently published study, researchers from Lawrence University in Wisconsin found that female managers who dressed provocatively were viewed as being less competent and less intelligent.

The "sexy" outfit — a tight, knee-length skirt, low-cut shirt with a cardigan, and high heels — was considered inappropriate for female managers and receptionists alike, but it was only the managers who elicited more negative reactions. Male and female undergraduates watched a video of a woman talking about her general background and hobbies, but her manner of dress and her job title were changed for different sequences. The findings were published in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly.

But as I read through the study, the findings really started to grate on me for a couple of reasons: First, I thought the description of the "sexy" outfit didn't seem to be all that risque. Second, I had a rough time reconciling the described sexy look with the reactions that the woman in the study received. People viewed her as less intelligent and capable when she was provocatively dressed, compared with when she was dressed in a less revealing outfit — flat shoes, slacks and a turtleneck.

Unfortunately, these latest study findings are consistent with past research, one professor said.

"It is stereotypical. It is unfair," said Comila Shahani-Denning, associate professor of psychology at Hofstra University in New York. "What previous research has shown is that women who dress in a more feminine way really evoke that feminine stereotype."

Some higher-level positions are also associated with more masculine types of traits, said Shahani-Denning, who has done research on the attractiveness bias in the workplace. So for women aspiring to higher positions, wearing clothes that emphasize femininity can be distracting and detrimental.

But things have improved in women's attire in the workplace. In the past, she said, it was thought that for women to get ahead, they had to dress more mannish. That's changed.

"There's definitely a more female look that's more acceptable," Shahani-Denning said.

Her advice for all of her students, male and female, is to carefully consider whether what they wear to work will detract from their skills or experience. What's the image they want to project? What do they want to communicate about themselves?

"I don't think that people should feel like they have to fit a stereotype, but they have to think: 'What does this say about me?' " she said.

Dawn Sagario writes for The Des Moines (Iowa) Register.